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Costimulation of soil glycosidase activity and soil respiration by nitrogen addition
Author(s) -
Chen Ji,
Luo Yiqi,
Li Jianwei,
Zhou Xuhui,
Cao Junji,
Wang RuiWu,
Wang Yunqiang,
Shelton Shelby,
Jin Zhao,
Walker Laura M.,
Feng Zhaozhong,
Niu Shuli,
Feng Wenting,
Jian Siyang,
Zhou Lingyan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/gcb.13402
Subject(s) - nitrogen , ecosystem , environmental chemistry , chemistry , organic matter , respiration , soil respiration , soil organic matter , vegetation (pathology) , botany , soil water , environmental science , biology , ecology , soil science , organic chemistry , medicine , pathology
Abstract Unprecedented levels of nitrogen (N) have been deposited in ecosystems over the past century, which is expected to have cascading effects on microbially mediated soil respiration ( SR ). Extracellular enzymes play critical roles on the degradation of soil organic matter, and measurements of their activities are potentially useful indicators of SR . The links between soil extracellular enzymatic activities ( EEA s) and SR under N addition, however, have not been established. We therefore conducted a meta‐analysis from 62 publications to synthesize the responses of soil EEA s and SR to elevated N. Nitrogen addition significantly increased glycosidase activity ( GA ) by 13.0%, α ‐1,4‐glucosidase ( AG ) by 19.6%, β ‐1,4‐glucosidase ( BG ) by 11.1%, β ‐1,4‐xylosidase ( BX ) by 21.9% and β ‐D‐cellobiosidase ( CBH ) by 12.6%. Increases in GA were more evident for long duration, high rate, organic and mixed N addition (combination of organic and inorganic N addition), as well as for studies from farmland. The response ratios ( RR s) of GA were positively correlated with the SR ‐ RR s, even when evaluated individually for AG , BG , BX and CBH . This positive correlation between GA ‐ RR and SR ‐ RR was maintained for most types of vegetation and soil as well as for different methods of N addition. Our results provide the first evidence that GA is linked to SR under N addition over a range of ecosystems and highlight the need for further studies on the response of other soil EEA s to various global change factors and their implications for ecosystem functions.